


half the lies you tell are true (i'm gonna find a piece of you)

by jebentnietalleen



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-01-26 23:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21382504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jebentnietalleen/pseuds/jebentnietalleen
Summary: lucas takes his best friend eliott with him on a family holiday, as his fake-boyfriend.this way lucas can avoid any pity and the billions of questions about his non-existent love life, and eliott gets to enjoy an all expenses paid trip.what could go wrong?
Relationships: Eliott Demaury/Lucas Lallemant
Comments: 37
Kudos: 132





	1. Eliott.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to my dear friend Meg, and is written in honour of her birthday. Meg's favrorite trope is fake dating, and second dating trope is friends to lovers. Why choose? 
> 
> POV will be alternating thoughout the fic, because that seemed like a fun thing to do.
> 
> It's the first time I am posting a multi-chaptered fic that I haven't fully written yet, so I don't know how often I will be able to update, nor do I know how many chapters it will be. If I do get a sense of that in the future, I will update the description accordingly! 
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!

‘Please don’t freak out, but I need a huge favor from you, and I am really, really sorry.’

This isn’t exactly the first time that Lucas has called him up in a panic, lord knows that his best friend got himself into trouble more times than he could keep up with. Still, something in his voice sounds different this time, a hint of panic shining through the rushed words as they stumble out of his mouth. 

‘Okay, slow down. What’s the matter?’ Eliott cradles his phone in the crook of his neck as he balances a stack of books. He tries to keep his voice down and glances around, afraid of the judging looks that his shift buddy Matthieu will shoot him if he overhears him talking on the phone in the midst of the student library. Quickly shoving the books in place, he heads towards the inventory room to get some privacy. He hears Lucas sigh and wonders what’s going on with him. 

‘It’s really stupid, Eliott. God, you know what, forget it. Can we pretend I didn’t call? Let’s change the subject – how’s the job going?’

They both know that Eliott isn’t going to give in that easily, but he decides to play a long for a second. 

‘Pretty good, I actually think that I am growing on Matthieu. Here’s hoping that he tolerates me long enough, I can’t afford to get fired from another job.’

After losing his job at a café for being too clumsy, and getting the sack at a clothes store because he skipped one too many days during a depressive episode, he really was in dire need of a steady income right about now. The library at his University was the last place he thought of to apply for a job, but his classmate Jules had told him that they were looking for someone after the last guy that worked there had graduated. It pays minimum wage, but the perks are great, and beggars can’t be choosers. 

‘I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. I don’t know what that guy’s problem is, anyway. You’re awesome, you know tons about books and are super friendly to everybody. He should be glad that you got hired.’

Eliott grins at the indignancy that shines through in Lucas’ voice. He can picture him now: pouty lips, deep frown, and an earnest look in his eyes. 

‘I have a feeling that that’s the problem: he thinks I am a suck up or too nice or something.’ It feels silly to mention, but Eliott thinks Matthieu feels threatened by him. The few times Eliott has tried to talk to him about certain authors or genres and showed that he more or less knows what he is talking about, Matthieu just glared at him. Besides, he still wants to know why Lucas called him, he doesn’t want to get sidetracked by something as unimportant as Matthieu and his envy.

‘Tell me why you called. I don’t care if you fucked something up, I’m the least perfect person you know, probably.’

That earns him a snort from Lucas, and Eliott can’t help but feel like he won something, although he doesn’t know what, exactly. 

‘You might care, this time. It kind of involves you, actually.’

He doesn’t mean to stay silent, it’s just that he is at a loss of words. He has no idea where Lucas is going with this. 

‘Okay…?’

Eliott hears a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the call, and braces himself for whatever is coming next. 

‘Alright, fine... So, you know how I told you that my family is renting a villa in Spain at the end of the month?’

‘Yes, I vaguely recall the millions of times you screamed to me about how you can’t wait to relax and forget about this shit city for a whole week.’

‘Right. Well, do you also happen to remember the fact that every single member of my family has been pestering me about my love life for the past 3 years?’

‘I do…. Wait, are you asking me to kick someone’s butt for you? Or – no, Lucas, did you kill your aunt or uncle? Do you need help to cover up the body?’

‘Oh my god, no, I wish it was that simple.’

This time, it’s Eliott’s turn to snort. Sometimes he can’t believe what an idiot Lucas can be. There’s nobody like him. 

‘Like you just said, I really, really want to go to Spain and relax and forget about Uni for a second. The weather over there is amazing, the food is delicious, and honestly, it’s all expenses paid so I would be a fool to say no to that, right? Well… the thing is, I kind of forgot that last month, when I was at my aunt’s birthday party, I told everybody that I am seeing someone.’

Eliott blinks, trying to keep up with what Lucas is telling him.

‘But you are not. Seeing somebody. Right?’

The question comes out a bit hesitantly, he’s pretty sure that Lucas would have told him if he was dating somebody, but maybe he missed something. 

‘No, no, no! I’m not,’ Lucas quickly says, ‘I was just fucking tired of always having to answer the question “Lucas, when are you going to make our day and bring over a nice young man?” with: “I have no goddamn clue.”, so… I kind of lied, I guess. It was supposed to be a little white lie, no harm, no foul, just to get some peace of mind. But it has kind of gotten out of hand. First, my aunt called my mom to ask her why she had been hiding my gorgeous new boyfriend from her, which resulted in my mom being upset and calling me in turn, which led to me saying that I would introduce him soon. I kind of forgot about it until yesterday.’

For some reason, Eliott’s heart start to beat faster. He sits down on the ground and crosses his legs, waiting for Lucas to continue.

‘Yesterday, I was visiting my mom, and she asked me when I was planning to come over with my boyfriend, because she thought it would be nice to meet him before we would go on holiday together. I was confused at first, but then I remembered that I had kind of panicked at that birthday and had told them that I would bring my boyfriend with me to Spain. I had figured that I would just say that we broke up just before the trip, but to be honest, I kind of liked the fact that nobody was pestering me about my failed love life or asking questions about when I would finally meet the one. And then I had a moment of weakness last night and said I would bring my boyfriend over this weekend, for dinner…’

‘I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, and don’t get me wrong, you are a real catch, but I don’t think that you finding a boyfriend in the next 48 hours is a very realistic goal.’

He was starting to feel nervous, and Lucas could probably tell.

‘No, I know. Unfortunately, I’m not finished yet. The thing is, my mom got so excited at the prospect of meeting my boyfriend, that I felt bad about pretending to break up with him, even though I made the whole thing up in the first place. It would probably break her heart. That’s why I improvised and said we would come by this weekend, and my mom was so happy to hear that. She started to ask me all kind of questions about him, and at first, I wanted to think of a random name, but she insisted on seeing a picture of him as well. Honestly, Eliott, I really didn’t mean to blurt it out, but you and I had been talking a lot yesterday, and when I opened up my phone the first thing I saw was our text conversation, so I said my boyfriend’s name is Eliott.’

It's a good thing he is sitting down, because Eliott starts to feel lightheaded. 

‘Lucas, please don’t tell me that you telling your mom that your boyfriend’s name is Eliott means that your mom now think that I am your boyfriend.’

He knows that Lucas can hear the panic in his voice. 

‘Okay, then I won’t.’

‘You’re kidding me, right?’

‘I wish I was. I caved and showed her your Instagram profile and uh, she is really looking forward to meeting you this Saturday. Eliott, I know I fucked up, I’m truly sorry, but if you do me this favor, I will never ask anything of you ever again, and I will owe you, big time and I will be eternally grateful.’

‘Say that I do come to diner, what happens next? How long will we have to pretend to be dating? I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable lying to your mom like that.’

Lucas rushes to explain:

‘It would just be this Saturday, I promise. I will… I don’t know, make up some lame excuse about why I dumped you before the actual vacation. Besides, you won’t have to lie all that much. We know each other, just… try and stay as close to the truth as possible, that will make it easier.’

‘You sound like someone with a lot of experience in lying, and by the way, why would you be the one to break up with me? Maybe I got tired of your grumpy ass that always needs saving and dump you instead.’ 

He can’t help himself, teasing Lucas comes as a second nature to him.

‘Is that a yes?’

Eliott rolls his eyes, even though he knows Lucas can’t see that right now.

‘Fine, I’ll come to diner. I just hope for your sake that your mom doesn’t fall in love with me. I think I’m a pretty good son in law.’

‘Honestly, I think that ship has sailed. She pretty much swooned when I showed her your pictures.’

‘I don’t know whether to feel flattered or frightened.’

‘Both is good. You better bring your A game, Demaury, you’ve got to live up to the hype, now.’

‘I’ll try. Only the best for mister Lallemant and his mom.’

He can hear the smile in Lucas’ voice when he says, ‘Yeah, yeah, promises, promises. I’ll see Saturday. And Eliott? I really can’t thank you enough.’

‘No worries, Lucas. See you then.’

-

After they hang up, Eliott really doesn’t know how to feel. The rest of his work shift goes by in a daze. He tries to not give too much attention to the little voice inside his head that is currently yelling: ‘Run the other way, Eliott, this can only lead to pain and disaster!!!’ 

It’s weird, in a way, that Eliott has never met Lucas’ mom before. They’ve been friends for so long, yet Lucas is never really eager to talk about his family to him. He knows that Lucas had moved in with 

Mika and Lisa just before Eliott changed schools and got to know Lucas and the rest of their friends. During those first few years, Eliott had asked Lucas to hang out at his place more times than he could count. Some of those times, Eliott’s parents were home. They quickly grew to love Lucas, and were always glad to see him whenever he stayed over, but hanging out at Lucas’ place meant hanging out at the coloc, not with his parents. 

It shouldn’t come to a surprise to him, then, that Lucas apparently never mentioned him to his mom by name before, but it still stings a bit. Lucas is such an important part of his life; he can’t even fathom the thought of not telling his parents about him and their friendship and what he means to him. 

There even was a time where he thought that maybe, just maybe, they would become more than friends. Those first few times they hung out together back in high school, getting to know each other better and better one on one, lightened up a spark inside of Eliott that never really died down since then, if he was honest with himself.

For a while, he was convinced that it would work out between them. He even broke up with Lucille for good, hoping that Lucas would catch the hint that there was something more between them and that he wanted to explore that with him. 

Unfortunately, they never seem to get their timing right. Just when Eliott was finally single again, Lucas had come out to him and the rest of their friends and Eliott had overheard Mika telling him that he should try to explore as much as he could now that he felt free to be himself. In other words: don’t tie yourself down to the first guy that comes along. 

It’s not as if Lucas was dating around after that all that much, but Eliott did get the feeling that he took Mika’s advice to heart. As much as he would have loved to confess his feelings for Lucas, Eliott didn’t want to risk getting his heart broken by being one of his quick flings. Not to mention the fact that their friendship would never be the same again, if that would ever happen. So, he kept it to himself, and he got over it, for the most part. 

Sure, there are times when they hang out together, just the two of them, and Eliott makes a joke that makes Lucas laugh so hard that he nearly topples over, and his heart would surge. There are times when Lucas is lying on the grass on a sunny summer’s day, and the sun catches his hair, a soft smile on his face, perfectly content… and Eliott will have to look away. There are times when Lucas makes the dorkiest, sarcastic comments, glaring at Eliott with those vastly blue eyes, and it takes everything within him to bite back an ‘I love you’, opting for ‘You are such an idiot’, instead. 

There are other times, as well, though. Playing football in the park with the whole gang, supporting Yann at the skate rank while they all goofed off at the sidelines, painting the foyer together and helping Daphné with her crazy party ideas… those times, the times where he feels like he finally is part of something special, of a group of friends who care for him and who he cares about, those times really makes it worth the while. Because even if him and Lucas will never become more than friends, having him as a friend means the absolute world to him, and if can help it, he will never give that up. 

Their friendship means so much to him, that even when Lucas exclaimed a few months ago that he was done fooling around and was ready for a serious commitment soon, Eliott didn’t dare to take his chance. It felt like the moment had passed, they were in too deep, knew each other too well to make the transition from friends to something more. 

Or so he keeps telling himself.


	2. Lucas

His palms are sweaty as he hangs up the phone. Still, that didn’t go as bad as he thought it would go. He still can’t believe that he has been such a dumbass, why did he have to say ‘Eliott’ to his mom? It only got him into more trouble than he was ready to face. 

It’s so awful that he can’t even begin to comprehend how he is going to get himself out of this goddamn mess. 

The truth of the matter is, his mom was not surprised when he mentioned Eliott. There is no way in hell that he would ever be upfront about this towards him, but he has always had a weak spot for Eliott, ever since he walked into his life 3 years ago like a breath of fresh air. The day they met Eliott, shortly after he transferred to their school, was the day their friend group gained an extra member that they didn’t even know was missing before then. It might sound sappy, but that is how it felt; it felt as if Eliott was supposed to have been there all along. 

At the end of the day, it comes down to this: Lucas is terrible at keeping secrets. A lack of poker face means that he needs to have an outlet at all times, and when it comes to Eliott, his outlet has always been his mom, in a way. 

He couldn’t very well tell any of the boys the truth, they knew Eliott too well and it was a far too fragile subject to be truthful about.

Not only because he was afraid that they wouldn’t understand or maybe slip up and let his feelings shine through when they talked with Eliott, but also because, for the better part of their friendship, Eliott has had a girlfriend.

Lucas doesn’t have all that much experience when it comes to falling in love, but going after someone who has a girlfriend is a big no-no, even he knows that. 

Sure, Eliott eventually broke up with Lucille for good, but by the time that happened, they were already such good friends that Lucas was sure that all the tactile gestures and lingering looks were just Eliott’s way of conveying his friendship.

Eliott has always been touchy feely with his friends, and was just such a kind soul in general, which makes it hard to decipher his moves.

The thing that always stopped him from being honest to his friends, was his own imagination. In his mind, he could hold entire conversations with them about Eliott. But it always ended the same: he would say that he has feelings for Eliott, and his friends would look at him like he had grown a second head. 

‘Eliott?’ they’d say, ‘But he is just… your friend. You know that, right? I mean, he is friendly with everybody. It’s Eliott!’

They’d probably say it with a look of pity in their eyes to boot.

So, he never told them. Instead, in a moment of weakness, he confided in his mother.

Yes, it was weird, yes, it was silly, but truth be told, him and his mom have a really good relationship. He didn’t even mean to tell her, honestly, it just slipped out. 

Thinking back on it, he can still vividly recall how it all went down. Lucas had just come home from an amazing night with Eliott, right after he met him. A night that wasn’t even planned at all.

The original plan had been to hang out at Maria’s place with Chloé and his friends. As if the fact that Chloé was super into him wasn’t stressful enough, he also was in charge of getting them all beer for a pre-drink that evening. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any money. 

The rest of the gang had just riffed on him, making jokes and expecting him to come up with a solution as they walked away from school. It wasn’t until Eliott and Lucas were alone at the bus stop that he noticed that Eliott had become quiet. 

‘Still no money from your dad?’ he had asked, and all he could do was shake his head. That was enough for Eliott to offer to help out and bring beer from his place, since Eliott was coming to the party with them anyway. 

What followed was a night he will probably always remember. They got distracted as soon as they entered Eliott’s apartment, when Lucas noticed the drawings on the wall. Knowing that Eliott saw himself as a raccoon was somehow the most endearing thing ever, yet not surprising, once he got to know him better. Eliott offered him a beer before they had to leave, Lucas pulled out some weed, and before they knew it, hours had past and they were drunk and stoned, side by side on the couch.

Maybe it was the alcohol and weed that lit his nerve endings on fire, maybe it was the lighting that caused the atmosphere to change into something a little bit more charged, or maybe the sight of Eliott blowing smoke rings really was the final straw, but suddenly, he couldn’t stop staring at him. At Eliott. Sprawled out and relaxed against his couch, his neck exposed and his eyes hooded; he had never looked more beautiful. 

When he thinks back on those early stages of their friendship, he knows that this is the night that changed things for him. 

Right from the start, something about Eliott made Lucas feel brave, it made him feel like he could just be himself. That night, he played the piano for the first time in years, and sure, he felt nervous, but it also just felt right. Seeing Eliott’s reaction afterward made him feel good about himself, and that was a feeling that frankly had been missing for far too long. 

Eventually, Eliott more or less had to kick him out because he was meeting up with Lucille, and he texted Chloé to tell her he couldn’t make it. Needless to say, she was not amused, and a few days later he was finally mustered up the courage to be semi-honest with her and tell her that it wasn’t going to work out between them. He might not have been ready to come out of the closet just yet, but leading her on while he could feel himself fall for Eliott was just plain cruel, he couldn’t do that to her. In the end, it was the best decision he would have made. Now, at least Chloé and him are still friendly with each other, which is for the best seeing as Yann would not be amused if his girlfriend – yes, slightly weird for Lucas, but they really fit well together - and one of his best friends were on bad terms. 

He didn’t expect his mom to be awake when he got home that night, but she sometimes got restless in the middle of the night. She could tell something was up, and actually made a joke about how he looked like he was in love. At that point, Lucas was drunk and stoned, and way too tired to come up with a lie. So, he told the truth. Or at least, a version of the truth.

He told her that he had met the most beautiful person he had ever seen, a few weeks ago, and that he only just began to realize that he might like them as more than a friend, yet it wasn’t an option to do anything about it, because they were spoken for. 

She had looked as if she was devastated on his behalf, and told him that she hoped things would change. 

To his mom’s credit, she never really pried all that much when it came to the person in question. She hadn’t even asked him why he used the word ‘person’ and not ‘girl’, and he never explained it to her. A part of him knew that there was a good possibility that she had guessed what was going on. 

It’s not as if he never told her stories about Eliott, from there on out. He did, and lots of them. She knew that Eliott is his best friend, and that they are very close, but never asked about it further. 

When he came out, it didn’t take his mom long to ask him if the crush he had been harboring all these years was on a boy, and if it was on a boy she knew about. There was no point in lying about it. This time, he told her the complete truth. 

Funnily enough, she didn’t seem surprised to find out it was Eliott all along. Which is how he came to realize that he was less good at hiding his feelings than he thought he was. 

Once she knew about it, though, it didn’t change anything. She still didn’t ask him questions about the developments in their friendship, or lack thereof. It seemed as if she had accepted the fact that they simply were best friends now, despite of his crush, just as he had accepted that himself. 

Every once in a while, though, she heard a story about him and Eliott goofing around, and he’d see a certain look in her eyes, a look that said, I hope these two crazy kids work it out in the end. 

The thing is, he wasn’t lying when he told Eliott just now that he was getting tired of his family prying into his love life. It was annoying, it was invasive, and it was a constant reminder that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t find anybody else who he wants to be with. Not in the long run, anyway.

So maybe it wasn’t the smartest idea to blurt out: ‘I am seeing somebody, actually, and he would be delighted to meet you all when we got to Spain,’ right after his aunt Lydia had asked him how it was possible that such a lovely, handsome guy just like himself was still single, but that’s exactly was happened. 

He figured it was a better response than saying: ‘Well, actually, I plan to hook up with a lot of hot dudes in Spain, so I don’t want to be tied down before the trip’, but looking back on it, maybe that would have been a better reaction. 

If he had thought about it for more than 5 seconds, he could have predicted that Lydia would talk to his mom about it, and his mom would, naturally, talk to him about it, but apparently his braincells had left the building for the day. 

Once he got home that evening, he started to wonder how long it would take before his mom would call him up, and began to think of a game plane. Frankly, every single thought he came up with seemed too unrealistic: his mom would never buy the fact that he was in a secret relationship with someone he never even mentioned to her before, they were way too close for that. It felt like he had no other choice than to tell her that Eliott and him had finally come to their senses and have started to date.

The way her voice changed from somewhat frustrated and just a tiny bit angry to soft and gentle, let him know that she was happy for him, with all of her heart. It ached, a bit, knowing that the reason she was so glad wasn’t real. 

The thing he is very grateful about right now, though, is Eliott’s patience, because he honestly doesn’t know if he would have said ‘yes’ if Eliott had asked Lucas to do this for him, even if it was just for one night. He’s glad that he was able to explain that it wouldn’t have to go any further than that, he would never ask Eliott to go with him on a vacation where they would have to pretend to be together for a whole week. The thought alone makes his heart beat faster, and not in a good way. They could never pull it off for that long, plus it was unreasonable to expect Eliott to go that far for him. 

This dinner, though, this dinner could actually work. 

His phone buzzes and Lucas stops pacing his room, raking a hand through his hair, a habit of his he can’t seem to kick. 

It’s Eliott, wanting to know if they will tell their friends about this little adventure. On the one hand, he really wants to be open and honest about this to everybody, mostly because he has a feeling that people will be able to tell that he is hiding something. On the other hand, it’s embarrassing enough as it is that he had to ask Eliott to do this, he really doesn’t think any of their friends would ever let him forget about this if they found out, they’d torture him for all of eternity. 

He texts him back: Let’s not make this a big deal, it’s only for one night, right? No need to cause chaos. Besides, Basile would be so jealous, you know he wants you all to himself. We wouldn’t want to upset the poor guy.  
A few seconds later, Eliott responds: Agreed, best to spare his feelings. 

Lucas smirks at his screen, as reality sets in. They are really doing this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i will try to update weekly, but after the next chapter (chapter 3) i predict that the chapters that follow will be slightly longer, so it could take me a while to get them finished! as always, kudo's and comments are very much appreciated :)


	3. Eliott

It’s a good thing that Eliott is busy with work and school, because it helps keep his mind off of the fact that he is going to have to pretend to be Lucas’ boyfriend. As soon as Eliott came home that evening after their call, he texted Lucas with some questions. He wanted to know if they were going to tell any of their friends anything, mostly because he really wanted to ask for advice but didn’t want to ruin the plan by telling Sofiane and Idriss everything if Lucas didn’t agree to that. He hates keeping secrets, especially from his roommates. They talked about it for a bit and came to the agreement to not tell anybody, since it they would only be pretending for one evening anyway.

He can’t keep his mouth shut entirely, though, so a few hours before he has to meet Lucas’ mom, he tells Idriss he’s got a date and that he’s nervous. 

‘Ahw, buddy! You have no reason to be nervous, I am sure you’re going to slay. You are looking sharp as hell.’

Idriss gives him the once over, nodding approvingly. He changed his outfit so many times, finally settling for black jeans and a green turtleneck. 

‘Thanks, but I am practically sweating. Maybe the turtleneck wasn’t the smartest idea.’ 

He tugs at the collar, glancing in the mirror. 

‘No, no, no! The turtleneck looks amazing! No changing your outfit again, Eli, come on.’

Idriss manhandles him out of his bedroom and into the living room, insisting on making him a cup of tea to calm his nerves. In actuality, he wanted to give Eliott something stronger, but he had declined. He couldn’t risk getting tipsy and making a fool of himself in front of Lucas’ mom. 

The tea calms his nerves, but not enough to make him relax completely. Lucas texts him, saying that he’ll swing by to pick him up and that he’ll wait for him in his car so that Idriss won’t see him. On the one hand, he is grateful for the fact that he won’t have to show up at his mom’s place alone, on the other hand, he wasn’t expecting to see Lucas so soon. 

He drains his tea and thinks he catches Idriss watching him more carefully, but if Idriss realizes something is wrong, he doesn’t mention it. 

When Lucas lets him know that he’s outside, he swiftly dries his palms on his jeans and throws on a coat and scarf. He grabs the bottle of wine that he decided to bring with him last minute as a gift to Lucas’ mom. Idriss pulls him into a quick hug and whispers: ‘You’ve got this, dude.’

He hopes he is right.

-

It’s funny, in a way: when he gets into the car and sees Lucas, his nerves immediately quiet down. What is it about this boy that’s so soothing yet heart stopping at the same time? 

Lucas smiles at him and mouths a quiet ‘thank you’, sending shivers down his spine. 

‘What’s that?’ Lucas glances at the bottle that Eliott has clutched between his arms. 

‘Oh, just some wine, for you mom.’

‘You didn’t have to bring anything, Eliott.’ Lucas sounds incredulous. 

‘What, and come empty handed? What kind of boyfriend would I be if I did that.’

Lucas grins and shakes his head, but turns his eyes back on the road. 

The ride over to Lucas’ mom is quiet, but the music Lucas puts on is quite soothing, and he thinks that Lucas probably chose it on purpose. It’s a mix of classical music with some more indie stuff in between. He reminds himself to ask the name of the playlist later.

When they arrive, Lucas shuts off the engine, and looks at him. 

‘We’re here. Ready?’

Eliott scoffs, ‘Ready to meet my fake boyfriend’s mom? Sure, as ready as I’ll ever be. Do you have any… I don’t know – last minute pointers?’

Lucas’ face softens at that, ‘Eliott, please don’t worry, it will be fine. I’m sure she’ll love you. You don’t have to pretend to be someone else, just… be yourself, only, uhm, a version of yourself that happens to be in love with me.’

Eliott could swear he sees a blush creep onto Lucas’ cheeks. He will have to remember that for later, because of… reasons. 

Lucas looks a bit embarrassed by it, ducks his head as he heads out of the car and towards the building. Eliott trails behind him as Lucas opens up the door and lets him inside. He is feeling less secure about all of this by the second.

Unfortunately for him, he has a huge tell: whenever he’s nervous, he bites his nails. 

‘Stop that, there’s not going to be any nail left if you keep that up.’ Lucas swats away his hand and takes his other hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly. 

The look in Lucas’ eyes goes from pleased because Eliott’s no longer biting his nails to curiously giving Eliott the once over. His eyes feel like they are burning their way down his body.

‘What’s wrong?’

There’s a second in which both of them stay quiet, before Lucas speaks up softly.

‘Nothing, you just. Look good.’

Eliott send a mental thank-you-note to his past self and to Idriss, for sticking with this outfit, and runs his eyes over Lucas for good measure. 

‘Thanks, you do, too.’

Lucas is wearing a maroon red button-down shirt and beige dress pants. It’s a nice look. 

‘Thank you, I know,’ he grins at Eliott and raises his eyebrows challengingly, ‘Here we go.’

-

In the next 45 minutes, Eliott finds out that Lucas used to have spiky short hair when he was a kid, that he did not like to get his picture taken and looks grumpy in 80% of them, and that his mom, Eleanore, loves him a lot. They look so much alike, in a way, Lucas and his mom. They both have sharp facial features, and beautiful eyes, but most of all, they have the same mannerisms. When Eliott hands her the bottle of wine, she looks pleasantly in awe, and it reminds him of Lucas so much. It’s oddly comforting.

Although he has been loving all the tidbits he is learning about Lucas, and the way Lucas continually rolls his eyes whenever Eleanore shares another detail, it’s been hard to keep his focus. This mostly stems from the fact that during all of this, Lucas hasn’t let go of his hand, and he doesn’t know what to think about that. 

They are standing around the kitchen island, waiting for the oven to ping whilst drinking some prosecco, and they’re still holding hands. It should be weird, is the thing. This is not something they normally do, after all, but it’s not strange at all. The feeling of Lucas’ fingers tangled with his own grounds him, and he is extremely grateful for that. 

‘Eliott, Lucas tells me that you’re studying Visual Arts. That’s amazing! You must be very creative.’ 

Suddenly he starts to regret the fact that he hasn’t asked Lucas what he has told his mom about him, what she knows. 

‘I do, yes, I love it. I don’t know if I would call myself very creative, honestly, but I enjoy what I do and that’s important to me.’

Lucas turns around to face him.

‘Don’t sell yourself short, Eliott, you are very creative, and talented,’ he turns to his mom, ‘He actually kickstarted a short, animated movie back in high school. It was amazing.’

‘Really? Wow, that’s so great! I would love to see it, someday.’

Eleanore sounds so delighted, it breaks his heart a little, knowing that there won’t be a ‘someday’ after tonight. 

He glances over at Lucas, who is already looking at him. Before he can answer, Lucas beats him to it.

‘I’m sure that can be arranged.’

It’s hard to tell what’s going through Lucas’ mind right now, but he guesses that they have no other choice but to pretend a future is in the cards. 

An alarm goes off, and Eleanore gets busy, shooing them over to the living room. 

‘Go sit, boys. Dinner is ready!’

When they sit down at the table, Lucas lets go of his hand, and he tries not to be too disappointed by that. 

-

As it turns out, Eleanore is a fantastic cook, even though she claims she just ‘threw something together’. The dish contains white fish, tomatoes and eggplant, with baked potatoes on the side. It’s delicious. 

They talk about all sorts of things. Eleanore asks them how they met. They agreed to keep as close to the truth as possible, which means that Eliott tells her that he changed high schools when he was 18 and met Lucas then. After that, she wants to know when they decided to start dating.

Before he can say anything, Lucas answers this one, telling her that he always had a crush on Eliott, and that he had confessed his feelings one night when they were drunk at a party that Basile threw. 

That party actually happened, and it’s true, they were pretty drunk. Eliott thinks back on that party and wonders why Lucas chose to incorporate that night of all nights in their fake-dating story.

‘I just told him that I think he’s one of the best people I know, and that I really liked him, and I guess he was on the same page as me, and yeah, the rest is history.’

He tries to catch his eye, but Lucas keeps looking at his mom, who is cooing over their romantic encounter, if you could call it that. The funny thing is, they did actually have a conversation just like that one that night, the only difference was that it didn’t result in them moving on beyond friendship. 

If he didn’t know any better, he would say that Lucas looks… shy, right now. Like he’s a bit embarrassed that he chose that story. 

It pulls on his heartstrings, and he instinctively nudges Lucas’ thigh with his own. It takes a moment before he can feel Lucas lean into the touch gratefully. 

‘You must be stoked to go on vacation with the whole family, Eleanore.’

As far as subject changes go, it might not be the most subtle one, but it’s all he can think of right now. 

‘Yes, absolutely, it’s been so long since we’ve done something like this. I think that Lucas must have been 8 or 9 the last time. Did Lucas tell you the occasion?’

He tries – and fails – to hide his surprise. Frankly he has just assumed that there wasn’t any special occasion.

‘No, mom, I didn’t bore him with the details, but since you’ve mentioned it… it’s my aunt and uncles 25th wedding anniversary. They are pretty well off, that’s why it’s all expenses paid.’

When Lucas looks up at him, he seems to feel guilty about keeping that piece of information from him until now.

‘It’s very kind of them, and honestly I have been looking forward to it all year. I know Lucas has, too, right dear?’

Lucas shrugs and smiles at his mom, a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. 

‘Yeah, I guess. I mean, I could really use the rest. It’s been a… hectic year. A full week in the sun can’t come soon enough.’

Eliott tries to concentrate on the conversations that follow and just enjoy his meal, but every once in a while, his eyes are drawn towards Lucas, and he can’t shake the feeling that there’s something going on with him that he isn’t voicing. 

-

It’s too bad that Eleanore isn’t his real mother-in-law, because she’s an absolute sweetheart, and makes him feel so welcome in just a few hours. So much so, that when they leave for the evening, he feels a pang of regret that it’s over already. 

They hug at the front door, and it feels nice. 

‘It was a pleasure meeting you, Eliott.’

‘Likewise.’ 

The urge to give Lucas and his mom some privacy in their goodbye’s comes over him then, and he walks outside to have a quick smoke. 

It takes some willpower not to try and overhear what they are saying. A part of him is dying to know what Eleanore really thinks of him, but he knows that it doesn’t even matter anyway. 

Despite his efforts, he senses that the tone of Lucas’ goodbye isn’t as happy as he thought it would be. 

When Lucas finally emerges from the house and asks if he’s ready to go, Eliott follows him to the car. 

‘That went okay, right?’

He can’t help but feel a bit nervous. Lucas looks up. 

‘Of course, it went perfectly. I know I have already said this a lot, but… thank you, again.’

‘It was nothing, really. I had fun. Your mom’s the best.’

Lucas smiles and sighs at the same time. 

‘She is, isn’t she.’

When he glances over at him, Lucas is biting his lip. 

‘Is something wrong, Lucas? If I did or said anything out of line, just tell me –‘

‘What? No, of course you didn’t. I was just… thinking. When we said goodbye, my mom started to say that she was so glad I had you in my life, and that she knew that everybody is dying to meet you… I don’t know, I just think that I should cancel that vacation to be honest.’

‘Are you kidding me? You deserve that vacation. Why would you cancel it?’

‘Because, I thought I would be fine with just saying we broke up, but I can already predict that there will be a pity party in my name if I go with that. And that sounds more exhausting to me right now than having no vacation at all.’ 

‘That sounds stupid. You need to rest, Lucas.’ 

A thought comes to him, one that he feels equally excited as scared about. 

‘Listen… you said it’s all expenses paid, right? Would that also be the case for your plus one?’

Lucas nods, although his face tells him that he’s not sure where Eliott is going with this. 

‘Okay, great. I have a proposition, and before you say no, hear me out. We can try and keep this whole fake dating thing up for a bit. I can come with you on your holiday. It wouldn’t be to do you a favor, or, well, not _only_ to do you a favor. In case you don’t know, I am not exactly swimming in money right now, so a vacation that I don’t have to pay for myself? That’s pretty much a gift right out of heaven, if you ask me. 

‘Look, you don’t have to give an answer right away, but at least tell me you will think about this before you make any rash decisions.’

Lucas is looking at him in disbelieve and with narrowed eyes, but his eyes soften as he realizes that Eliott is being serious.

‘Fine… I will think about it.’

Eliott doesn’t sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it, let me know what you think! The next chapter is going to be a bit more work, probably will be longer, so it might take me more time.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me at tumblr: @jebentnietalleen


End file.
